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Mumbai’s premier shopping destination High Street Phoenix has added a new shopping centre in its vicinity. Branded Grand Galleria, the centre spreads over 60,000 square feet in two floors and houses a variety of fashion apparel and accessories, home décor and furnishings, bath and body, leisure, travel and outdoor merchandise. Further, the company plans to launch two of its upcoming projects in Mumbai and Lucknow soon, informed a top company official.
Speaking to IndiaRetailing, Vinay Menon, centre director, High Street Phoenix, said, “High Street Phoenix has already established itself as one of the best retail destinations in south Mumbai. With Grand Galleria, we look forward to ensure that both retailers and shoppers have the most satisfying and sterling retail experience ever.”
“Grand Galleria has 32 stores in addition to a seven-screen PVR multiplex. The opening of PVR Cinemas and Croma store has added value to it and the footfalls have been increasing tremendously beyond our expectations,” added Menon.
Speaking about the upcoming projects, Menon further disclosed, “We have planned to roll out Mumbai's first luxury destination — Palladium by the end of May this year. Further, Phoenix United, which is being developed in Lucknow, is scheduled to be opened in September this year."
"Besides housing a blend of both national and local brands, Phoenix United will also have Lucknow’s first six-screen multiplex and a night club,” he added.
The stores in Grand Galleria include Basecamp Traveller, Be:Home, Biba, Bose, BHS, Costa Coffee, Croma, Krystal Mirage, EcoScapes, Episode, Esbeda, Fab India, GNC, H&A (Home and Apparel), Identiti, Jashn, Jas Jewellery, Lancome, Lush, Monarch, Nachtmann, Neckties & More, Om Ved, Patchouli, Penny Lane, Redmond, Sia, Storm, Subway, Tesoro and William Penn.
High Street Phoenix is spread across three zones — Skyzone, Courtyard and MainStreet Boulevard. While the leading national and international retail outlets feature in Skyzone, Courtyard represents various eating joints, The Bowling Co and Big Bazaar outlet. MainStreet Boulevard houses formal and casual clothes, premium accessories and jewellery brands.
"Online shopping is not only more convenient for consumers with hectic lifestyles, but also gives a better deal for their money," says Veer Kaul CEO of Art d'nox, the premium stainless steel home décor chain from Jindal steel. There are eight exclusive Artd'nox stores in key metros like New Delhi and Mumbai, besides at 41 multi brand outlets including Shoppers Stop, Westside, Home Stop and The Home Store. Kaul finds the online format exciting, though the concept is still in a nascent phase in India.
Small eyes big
According to a study by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India's unorganised retail sector is expected to grow at about 10 per cent per annum with sales rising from US$ 309 billion in 2006-07 to USD 496 billion in 2011-12. The study further suggests that organised retail is likely to grow at a much faster pace of 45-50 per cent per annum and quadruple its share in total retail trade to 16 per cent by 2011-12. The study also revealed that the majority of unorganised retailers indicated their preference to continue in the business and compete rather than exit, representing a future scenario in which both unorganised and organised retail not only coexist but also grow substantially in size.
In such a scenario, there is certainly a need for the former and larger segment to innovate. Online retail is one such tool to boost the sales of small retailers. For those operating single or even a couple of stores, the clientele may be limited; however, their adoption of an online model will not just boost visibility and reach – and thereby sales revenues — but also help build proximity with clients, thanks to many inbuilt tools.
Shalini Gera, GM, Ferns N Petals - ecommerce, says, “Online retail offers global reach for both buyers and receivers, which is absent in the case of a fixed physical store. It also provides round-the-clock reach and hence there are no market timing restrictions."
Despite all the advantages, when it comes to credibility, it is no secret that Indian consumers still prefer a touch-and-feel experience when it comes to shopping. Some analysts, however, believe that it is only a matter of time before Indians begin trusting the online shopping space.
“E-commerce is growing by 30-40 per cent each year and with branded players stepping in for most products, credibility is not a major issue. Besides, online retailers are extremely cautious of this fact and go the extra mile to ensure that customer experience is above expectation," says Gera.
Khurshid Iqbal, business head— operation, Sweet World, a popular European concept of a pick-n-mix candy shop, elaborates the role of online retail in food. "We currently operate 53 outlets—both company owned and franchised. Besides planning 50 more outlets by December 2009, we will soon launch an online retail site for the customers. Online retail will help us reach clients in the areas where we currently have no stores."
Jagdeep Chhabra, managing director, Chhabra Triple Five Fashions says, "Chhabra555, a traditional Indian women’s ethnic wear retailer with 35 physical stores, also has an online presence. However, company's revenue generation through online shopping is minimal at this point of time." The reason for this, he elaborates, is because customers want to touch and feel the products before making the final purchase. However, he believes over the next 2-3 years, the customer mindset will change in favour of the online shopping experience.
Cost effective
Besides offering significant benefits to consumers in terms of accessibility and product & price comparisons, online retailing has commercial advantages as well. It allows much larger inventory breadth, offers cost savings through a lack of physical infrastructure and overheads, and potentially offers a global consumer base to almost any size of business.
The biggest advantage of online sales is its cost effectiveness. The online version is not only available at zero real estate cost but also zero inventory cost. Gera further says, "It gives measurable options for marketing available on digital medium. Further, the retailer can reach a large targeted audience in lieu of targeting audiences through traditional media, which may not always be significant."
India story
According to a recent Visa e-commerce tracking survey, eighty per cent of internet users in the Asia Pacific region made an online transaction and spent an average of over USD 3,000 each in the past 12 months. Further, the survey revealed that in India, purchasing digital downloads was the most popular form of consumer e-commerce. Seventy-six per cent of respondents from India, the highest among Asia Pacific countries including Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia and India, have bought some form of digital entertainment over the internet in the last 12 months; music downloads (63 per cent) emerged as the most popular digital entertainment purchase.
Online consumers in India recognise the convenience of online shopping as reflected in the high percentage of internet users who buy a wide range of products, from those for everyday use to the occasional high-value item online. According to the report, the top draws for shopping online spotted airline tickets at first place, followed by online travel agents, travel accommodation. Clothes and shoes grabbed the fourth spot while car/motorcycle stood fifth. However, food and groceries segment was positioned seventh in the Visa e-commerce tracking survey.
The online shopping market in India is on the rise. Recently, to address the requirements of the consumer base, Reliance Money also forayed into the segment. As per India Retail Report 2009, books, electronic items, clothes/accessories, gifts and CDs/DVDs make up the largest chunk of e-retail sales at 28 per cent, 26 per cent, 25 per cent, and 23 per cent respectively, followed closely by watches, mobile phones, software, movie tickets etc. Major players in the segment are futurebazaar.com, HomeShop18, ebay, Indiatimes and individual retailers. Observers indeed expect the online shopping concept to boom in the near future, provided awareness about the safety of financial transactions over the internet spreads across consumers.
Aditya Birla Nuvo, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, plans to rejig its apparel business by opening 150 new stores at city centres, where footfall is higher, after closing 30 unviable stores, a top company official has said.
The company’s move comes after its net loss widened to Rs 141.2 crore in the March-ended quarter, owing to mounting losses in apparels. The loss was Rs 82.2 crore in the apparel business, against a loss of Rs 4.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Revenue from sale of garments fell 1 per cent to Rs 273.3 crore during the period, when consumers responded to the financial downturn by tightening their purse strings.
“In the current quarter, we plan to close 30 stores where sales per square feet have dropped significantly. We expect to save Rs 10 crore annually with the closure of these unprofitable stores,” said Pranab Barua, whole-time director of Aditya Birla Nuvo and chief executive of the textile and apparel business, Aditya Birla Group.
The apparel business arm of the company, which has Madura Garments Lifestyle & Retail and Peter England Fashions & Retail, runs 340 stores in the country. Madura Garments has brands such as Louis Phillippe, Van Heusen and Allen Solly and a tie-up with fashion brand Esprit.
The company is also taking other cost cutting measures in apparels which are expected to save it Rs 100 crore in fiscal year 2010, he says. “We will align all growing businesses and close the loss-making stores. Moreover, we have a plan to reduce the store area in some cases,” he added.
The company also plans to revive the Allen Solly brand to boost revenues and improve visibility. “Van Heusen, Louise Phillippe and Peter England were doing very well when Allen Solly sales was falling,” he said.
Aditya Birla Retail, another group company which runs supermarkets and hypermarkets, has closed 70 unviable stores of its More chain to improve profitability. Almost all retailers, such as the Future group, Reliance Retail and others, have scaled down expansion as shoppers defer purchases and downtrade to beat the slowing economy.
Analysts cited high leverage positions and rising debt to equity ratios as reasons for the slower expansion of retailers. “Across the board, expansion plans are being relooked, due to capital scarcity and catchment reassessment. Given high debt levels and an almost dormant equity market, the capital for growth has become scarce,” says a report from Edelweiss Securities.
Emami has launched a bigger summer campaign this year with a stronger budget and higher sales target than before.
“This season we are targeting sales of about Rs 300 crore, marking growth of around 30 per cent over the last summer,” Aditya V Agarwal, director of Emami Ltd, said indicating that Emami would invest Rs 60-70 crore on advertising and brand promotions for six summer months. This would represent roughly 20 per cent growth in the budget over the last summer. The campaign would largely be centred around its power brands – Navratna Oil and Boroplus.
Brand extension exercise
The introduction of two new hair oils as an extension of the Navratna brand — Navratna Oil Lite, non-sticky hair oil with mild fragrance, and Navratna Extra Thanda Oil, a stronger variant, he said, created a new hair oil range reinforcing existing regular product Navratna Oil aimed to provide “cooling effect” in summer.
The brand extension exercise was being undertaken for talcum segment of Navratna with the launch of a new talcum powder called Navratna Cool Talc: 24-hr Fresh. New SKUs of 20 gm and 300 gm for Navratna Cool Talc Active Deo were also being launched.
The summer campaign would also take on board the Boroplus range — Boroplus Ice Pricky Heat Powder with three variants cool, lavender and sandalwood, and French herbal. Emami, as it was pointed out, was also looking at strengthening its foothold in the OTC segment nationally with brands such as Lalima and Sardi Ja.
A new TV commercial of Navratna Cool Talc would go on air nationally featuring Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has appeared and sung for another new commercial for Navratna Oil.
Boroplus range would carry on their campaigns with actor Kareena Kapoor.
Mumbai’s premier shopping destination High Street Phoenix has added a new shopping centre in its vicinity. Branded Grand Galleria, the centre spreads over 60,000 square feet in two floors and houses a variety of fashion apparel and accessories, home décor and furnishings, bath and body, leisure, travel and outdoor merchandise. Further, the company plans to launch two of its upcoming projects in Mumbai and Lucknow soon, informed a top company official.
